French luxury designer Christian Louboutin is pleased to announce the launch of an exclusive collection of women’s and men’s shoes created from handcrafted sari fabrics from the archives of his close friend, Indian couture designer Sabyasachi, this October 2017.

“Indian handicraft is the best of the best in the world. The luxuriance of Indian workmanship is at the maximum. I would love the world outside of India to love it as I do.” - Christian Louboutin

With Christian Louboutin, the story is always a fairytale sprinkled with magic. In this true story, a chance meeting between the two designers in Sabyasachi’s Mumbai boutique lead to an immediate connection ignited by their boundless creativity and shared adoration of India’s culture, exquisite craftsmanship and love of food.

“India has been at the heart of luxury since the age of the Maharajas. Working with Christian revisits that couture tradition, connecting our handicrafts with his eclectic point of view to create bespoke delights for cultural magpies.” – Sabyasachi

 

An expression of this joyful connection first came in July 2015, when Christian Louboutin conspired to create the extraordinary shoes that walked the runway of Sabyasachi’s annual couture show held in Mumbai, followed again in October 2016, with a small number of exquisite handbags added to pair with the shoes.

Next, came an invitation to “Sabya’s” home city of Kolkata, and a rare visit to his private archive of saris and ribbons. Seeing them, Christian felt sad - did such beauty have to stay imprisoned in the dark? “Let’s make the embroideries into shoes that can dance into the light,” he said. “But these pieces can never be repeated,” Sabyasachi reminded him,“ and many are so rare and small you could only make a few pairs!” “I’d rather make just two pairs than leave such beauty languishing,” said Christian.

And so, the pair decided to bring this beauty outside of India to bask in the country's glorious fabrics and rich craftsmanship.

Featured in the exclusive collection are just shy of a dozen women’s shoe styles, including an exquisite thigh-high boot crafted with delicate leather strips designed to harness and highlight the leg that’s aptly named Tall and Deep.

For Men, Christian Louboutin chose to revisit select iconic styles from his collections. The Dandelion loafer received the Sabyasachi magic touch with an embroidered toe-cap recalling traditional Indian wedding shoes while Louis Junior is transformed into an incredibly rich patchwork of motifs and colours.

An ultimate manifestation of their creative tandem, Christian Louboutin imagined the graphic novel, “Deep Sleep for Beauty”. Deliciously entertaining, it tells the story of a beautiful Indian actress cast under a spell from which only the two designers have the ability to free her. A book will be offered in store and included within the special shoe boxes, custom made for the collection.